"Backes' pin was a good win and he gave it to us when we needed it," Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson said. "Our freshman are doing well and are consistent. Our seniors are competing hard to get the win."
Backes, came into the match ranked ninth nationally and had jumped out to a 6-4 lead in the first period over Askren, who entered the bout rated first nationally with a 24-0 record. Starting the second period in the down position, Backes rolled with his Tiger opponent and grabbed Askren's head at the perfect time to stick his shoulder blades to the mat. It happened so fast that both benches took a couple of seconds to take in what had happened. Backes is now 21-4 this season and 101-28 for his career.
"(Max Askren) is a tough kid and he scrambles a lot," Backes said. "I wanted to scramble with him. I like the position, I've been comfortable with it since high school. It was all in the timing."
Cyler Sanderson, ranked 14th at 149 pounds, tallied a pair of third-period takedowns to beat seventh-rated Josh Wagner 5-2. Both wrestlers are now 23-8 this season. The bout remained scoreless until Sanderson registered an escape with 53 seconds remaining in the second period. Wagner evened the score at 1-1 with an escape of his own to begin the third period, but Sanderson replied with a takedown to go up 3-1. With another escape, Wagner pulled within a point to put the score at 3-2. Sanderson sealed the win with a takedown with four seconds on the clock.
Cyler's older brother and head coach was impressed.
"That was a quality road win for Cyler," Cael Sanderson said. "Wagner is a tough competitor."
Iowa State's Paulson twins joined fellow senior Backus to notch significant wins over rated opponents. Trent Paulson, ranked fourth nationally at 157 pounds, improved to 20-4 by whipping No. 13 Nick Marable, in a 20-5 technical fall victory. Trent was relentless, taking down Marable six times in the first two periods while also notching a two-point and three-point near fall. The win was the 106th (106-20) career victory for Trent Paulson, moving him into a tie with Billy Kelly (1984-87), Zach Roberson (2001-04) and Nate Gallick (2002-06) for 23rd on the all-time ISU career win list.
"I thinks this proves we are a different team now," Trent Paulson said. "Things are falling into place and we are going to be very strong in March."
Travis Paulson (21-4), ranked third nationally at 165 pounds, beat seventh-rated Matt Pell (15-4), reversing the Tiger in the second period after starting in the down position. The two rivals have split their four meetings on the mat. Travis Paulson's career record stands at 99-29 and the 165-pounder would be the 32nd Iowa State wrestler with 100 career victories with his next dual win.
"Those two (Paulson and Pell) have a great rivalry going," Cael Sanderson said. "It won't be long and they will meet again."
The Big 12 Championship is March 3 in Columbia, Mo.
"I could tell Pell wanted space between us because he has long arms and legs," Travis Paulson said. "I wanted to close out that space. I used the third period for riding. It's great to see our team progress and make such consistent improvement."
Sanderson liked what he saw at 165 pounds.
"Travis went after the guy and worked hard trying to score points," Cael Sanderson said. "We are trying to make progress. We have two duals in Virginia to keep improving. Guys are doing what we preach and believing in us. It has made the job fun.
Iowa State wrestles at Virginia Tech Friday at 6 p.m. CST. The Cyclones close out the dual season Sunday with a 11 a.m. CST match at Virginia.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now